Baked ricotta with olive salad

Anyone who’s been reading my blog for a little while might have probably noticed I’m insanely partial to sweets – don’t get me wrong, I love food as a whole, but desserts ARE the best part of a meal. Don’t you think? :D

As a very responsible person, ahem, I know that one can’t live on cakes, cookies and ice cream – that’s why I’m always searching for delicious savory recipes that will be as much fun to prepare as their sweet counterparts.

I love cooking with ricotta, but what really caught my eye here was the olive salad and the dressing – what a fabulous combination of flavors.

Baked ricotta with olive salad
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Ricotta:
350g ricotta – I used homemade
2 eggs, separated
75g parmesan, finely grated
pinch of nutmeg, freshly grated

Olive salad:
200g mixed olives
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ thinly sliced zest of an orange
¼ cup firmly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil*

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; grease well four 150ml-capacity well greased ovenproof dishes.

For olive salad, combine olives with chilli, garlic, orange zest, parsley and extra-virgin olive oil, season to taste – I used only freshly ground black pepper since the olives are salty already. Set aside.
Press ricotta through a fine sieve into a bowl – mine was really soft, so I skipped this part; add egg yolks, parmesan and nutmeg and stir to combine. Whisk egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form, add to ricotta mixture and gently fold until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon ricotta into prepared dishes and bake for 15 minutes or until golden – mine needed 25 minutes; they will puff in the oven like soufflés but will deflate.
Stand for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the molds and unmold the ricotta. Serve warm or at room temperature with the olive salad.

* I used garlic infused olive oil and omitted the garlic clove from the recipe

Serves 4

Chocolate thumbprints

It’s been a while since I last made ice cream and, even with the cold days here, I sometimes feel like having a scoop or two... :D
Next time I make ice cream I know exactly where to go for inspiration: the issue #9 of Desserts Magazine is full of delicious ice cream recipes! And my sweet corn ice cream is there, too. :D

In the winter, I’ll take any excuse to turn the oven on to get the kitchen warm and cozy, and that’s much better when there are cookies involved. This recipe comes from Martha’s website but it only worked out perfectly because of Lizzie’s comment about the extravagant amount of filling and the Food Librarian’s warning about burned thumbs. :D

Chocolate thumbprints

Cookie dough:
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (70g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (175g) all-purpose flour, sifted

Filling:
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, room temperature
56g (2oz) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Start by making the dough: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour, beginning on low speed and increasing to medium high, until a dough forms – it won’t be sticky.
Roll dough by teaspoonfuls into balls, and place 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and press thumb* into tops of cookies to make indentations. Return to oven, and bake until light brown on the edges, 7 to 9 minutes more. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Make the filling: combine chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in a small heatproof bowl. Set over a pot of simmering water; stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly. When cookies are cool, fill the thumbprints with the chocolate mixture – there will be some filling left, even though I halved the filling recipe without halving the dough recipe.

* I used this measuring spoon to make the indentations on the hot cookies

Makes 2 dozen – I got 30

Citrus delicious pudding

I have a new obsession: delicious and put-together-in-a-minute desserts that get transformed while the oven – two different textures in only one dish.
It all started with Bill’s banana pudding and last weekend I tried Donna Hay’s citrus pudding: half of it becomes sort of a sponge cake, and the other half is similar to silky baked custard. So, so good.

Something tells me I’m gonna love Nigella’s hotcake – and I won’t be waiting for the holidays to make it. :D

Citrus delicious pudding
from Donna Hay magazine

6 ½ tablespoons (91g) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (330g) caster sugar
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (375ml) milk
3 eggs
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice
¼ cup (60ml) lime juice
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
Place the butter, sugar, milk, eggs, lemon and lime juices, flour, baking powder and orange zest in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth - I tried mixing the batter in my Kitchen Aid but it didn’t work well (the butter didn’t get mixed at all). So I switched to an immersion blender.
Pour into a lightly greased 5-cup (1.2 liters) ovenproof dish and bake for 1 hour or until golden.
Dust with icing sugar to serve (I forgot).

Serves 6

Herb and spinach fritters

Have you ever cooked something because you missed someone?

After watching a concert on TV, I could not stop thinking about my mom – she and my father met on one of that singer’s presentations, back in 1975. My way of dealing with it was preparing something I knew she’d love: it had to be something packed with veggies or fruit.

These fritters come from DH mag #29 and were perfect for the occasion.

Herb and spinach fritters
from Donna Hay magazine

1 cup (140g) self-rising flour, sifted
2 eggs
1 ½ tablespoons (21g) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup (60ml) milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped chives
½ cup chopped basil leaves
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup spinach leaves, packed, torn or chopped
vegetable oil for shallow-frying

Place the flour, eggs, butter, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine – a batter will form. Fold through the chives, basil, parsley and spinach. Place two tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add tablespoons of the mixture to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes each side or until bubbles appear on the surface – avoid making tall or very large fritters because they might not cook completely on the inside. Set aside.
Add another two tablespoons of oil and repeat with the remaining mixture.

Serves 4 – I got 10 fritters

Lime poppy seed muffins

If my blog were a soccer championship, the Lemon Team would be on their way to grab the Cup. But I felt that would not be fair to the other citrus I love so much – poor limes and oranges haven’t been around here in a while. :(

In order to balance the score, I used limes instead of lemons in these muffins – the recipe comes from the lovely and dear Lynne, who was also kind enough to ship me a box of goodies and poppy seeds (I can’t find them here).

Thank you, Lynne, for both the gifts and the wonderful recipe!
xoxo

Lime poppy seed muffins

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
1 egg
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (124g) sugar
2 tablespoons lime zest
¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 ¼ cups (300ml) buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
In a large mixing bowl, sift and whisk together the dry ingredients.
In a smaller bowl combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub them together until the sugar is slightly moist and fragrant. Add the egg, the butter, the buttermilk, lime juice and the vanilla. Mix well.
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir with a fork just until moistened. Do not over mix. The batter will be fairly thick.
Divide batter evenly into 12 paper-lined or greased muffin cups. Bake muffins on rack in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until muffins test done.

Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 12 – I got 11; my muffin pans hold 1/3 cup (80ml) batter each

Coconut and white chocolate chip cookies

I know there are lots of people out there who can’t stand coconut – Ivonne wrote something about that the other day. I understand the coconut haters but do not agree with them – hand me anything made with coconut and I am in heaven! Can’t wait for the weather to warm up so I can make some coconut ice cream, yum... :D

These cookies are delicious, easy to put together and the recipe yields a lot, too – enough to convert at least one coconut hater. :D

Coconut and white chocolate chip cookies
from Donna Hay magazine

125g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (212g) caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (140g) self-raising flour
1 cup (90g) unsweetened desiccated coconut*
⅔ cup (105g) white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well. At low speed, add the plain and self-raising flours and coconut and mix until a soft dough forms – my dough was too crumbly, so I added 1 tablespoon milk and it came together. Add the chocolate and mix at low speed or using a wooden spoon.

Using your hands, mold 1 ½ tablespoons of dough into balls. Place on the prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart, and press lightly using moistened fingers. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden on the bottom. Allow to cool on baking sheets.

* I used 50g unsweetened desiccated coconut + 40g sweetened shredded coconut

Makes 28

Candied lemon cake

I was once watching “Take home chef” – I used to love that show, now... not so much – and the girl Curtis had picked up at the grocery store had a lemon tree in her back yard. A lemon tree!! How great is that? But do you know what she did with all those lemons? She crushed them in the garbage disposal so her kitchen would smell nice. :S

I’d rather use my purchased-at-the-supermarket lemons for much better things, and this cake is one of them. Just make sure you eat the cake the day it’s made, while the lemon slices are still soft – I tried slicing the cake again a day after baking it and had to remove the lemon from its top; the cake tastes great without the candied lemon slices, too, but very similar to Nigella’s damp lemon and almond cake.

Candied lemon cake
from Donna Hay magazine

½ cup (70g) all purpose flour, sifted
240g icing sugar, sifted
120g almond meal (ground almonds)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
6 egg whites
180g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Candied lemon slices:
1 ½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (330g) caster sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) water
4 lemons, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; butter a 25cm (10in) round cake pan*, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper.
Place the flour, icing sugar, almond meal and lemon zest in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Add the egg whites and butter and mix well until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a serving plate.
To make the candied lemon slices, place the sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the lemon slices and bring to the boil. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until the syrup has thickened and lemon slices are translucent. Pour the syrup over the cake and top with the lemon slices. Allow to cool and serve.

* I made ¾ of the recipe and used a 20cm (8in) round cake pan; I used 2 lemons for the topping

Serves 8

Banana butterscotch pudding

I’m here today on a very special mission: I must convince you, my dear readers, to make this dessert next time you see a very ripe, freckled banana hanging around.

Banana bread is delicious, and so are banana cakes and cookies, but hear me when I say you’ll be an extremely happier person once you’ve tasted this pudding. Did I mention there’s caramel sauce involved? Oh, yes, there is. Plenty of it. Yum.

Mission accomplished. :D

Banana butterscotch pudding
from Simply Bill

¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster sugar
1 banana, mashed
1 cup (240ml) milk
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (140g) brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons golden syrup – I used corn syrup
1 cup (240ml) boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a medium bowl; add sugar and mix.
Add the banana milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract and whisk together until well combined.
Pour into a greased 2-liter baking dish.

Topping: mix the brown sugar, golden syrup and water in a small pan and bring to a boil (give it a stir so sugar is dissolved).
Pour the boiling mixture carefully over the pudding, place the baking dish inside a baking sheet then bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Serve with vanilla ice cream – I served with yogurt and its tang flavor matched the sweet caramel wonderfully!

Serves 4 – I think it definitely serves 6

Paper-baked spiced pastries

There’s something I need to share: I’m not into Twitter. Honestly, I don’t see what the fuss is all about...
I’ve used it a few times, but it just doesn’t appeal to me. But what do I know, anyway? I’m a silly girl who laughs her heart out at velcro jumpsuits. :D

I’ll stick to cooking, baking and blogging. The wonderful smell of these pastries is a great reason to do so. :D

Paper-baked spiced pastries
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon (255g) all-purpose flour, sifted
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup (55g) dried cranberries*
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
½ cup (120ml) milk
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside. Place the flour, baking powder and cranberries in a large bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre, gradually add the cream and milk, stirring, until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Roll out to a 30cm x 40cm (12 x 16in) rectangle. Brush with half the melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar mixture, reserving 1 tablespoon. Roll the dough, starting from the longer side, to enclose and slice into 8 pieces. Place the dough into 8 x ½ cup-capacity (125ml) muffin tins lined with non-stick baking paper – I used regular baking paper brushed with melted butter (I melted a little bit more than the recipe calls for to do that).
Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining butter and sprinkle with the reserved sugar. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked and lightly golden.

* the original recipe calls for dates; I’d decided to use dried apricots instead but could find none in the pantry (I was sure I had some!). Dried cranberries worked really well here

Makes 8

Puff pastry cheese twists

Do you know anyone who doesn’t like puff pastry? I don’t – it is so good that even my picky hubby loves it. :D

He had some cheese twists in Ottolenghi and absolutely loved them. I’ve been making these for him ever since, but usually at night – no good light for taking pictures. Luckily this time there were some twists left, but they were devoured right after I turned off my camera. :D

Puff pastry cheese twists
from a Brazilian magazine

1 pre rolled sheet frozen puff pastry (300g/10oz)
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup (50g) finely ground parmesan
1 teaspoon fleur de sel – less if using table salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF; line one large baking sheet with baking paper and brush it lightly with oil.

Thaw puff pastry according to the package instructions; open it, forming a rectangle – keep the plastic wrap under it. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and butter together and brush the entire pastry with the mixture (there will be some left). Sprinkle with the parmesan, the fleur de sel and pepper. Fold the pastry in half and lightly press it to seal the filling. Using a very sharp knife or pizza wheel, cut the pastry vertically in 1.5cm (a little over ½ in) strips, then cut the strips in half (horizontally). Twist each strip pressing the ends together again to enclose the filling. Place the twists onto the prepared pan ½-in apart.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Makes 18-20

Sky-high strawberry shortcake

I hadn’t used one of my favorite books in quite a while and looking at its cover I knew exactly what recipe to choose from it. Yes, strawberries again – I’ve warned you, remember? :D

This cake is so pretty I’d an eye on it since buying the book, but I ended up making other cakes from it and all of a sudden the strawberry season was gone. I would not make the same mistake this time, oh, no!

It is, indeed, a beautiful dessert and it tastes wonderful, but it’s really unstable and difficult to slice (even after 5 hours in the fridge, more than the recipe calls for). There was some filling and cream left, so combined them with some cake scraps to make a trifle:

Sky-high strawberry shortcake
from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Cake:
5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) caster sugar*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk

Fresh strawberry filling:
4 cups strawberries, small if possible
2 teaspoons rosewater
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (100g) caster sugar*

Whipped cream:
1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy cream
2 tablespoons caster sugar*

Garnish:
a few whole strawberries, sliced in half if desired, leaves on

Start by baking the cake: preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Grease the bottoms and sides of three 15cm (6in) round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment or baking paper and grease the paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk, in 2 or 3 additions. Beat well. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

Bake the cake layers for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper and allow to cool completely – I removed the paper after the cakes were completely cool.

Now, the filling: wash and hull the berries and slice into pieces about the thickness of a nickel. Place in a bowl and add the rosewater, vanilla and sugar. Stir to coat them well, cover the bowl, and let the berries macerate at room temperature until they exude their juices, about 1 hour.

Whip the cream: in a large chilled bowl, with chilled beaters, whip the cream with the sugar until stiff – there will be about 3 cups.

Assembling the cake: place one cake layer, flat side up, on a small cake stand or serving plate. Top with 3/4 cup of the fresh strawberry filling, spooning it over the entire layer and making sure any juices go onto the cake layer and not the plate, if possible. Top this with 1 cup of the whipped cream, spreading it evenly over the berries. Repeat with the second cake layer and another ¾ cup filling and 1 cup whipped cream. Top with the final cake layer flat side up. Cover with the last of the whipped cream and garnish with the whole berries. For best flavor, cover the dessert with a cake dome or loose plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours before slicing. Serve with the remaining strawberry filling on the side.

* I used vanilla infused sugar

Serves 8-10

Better-than-Brownie-Cookies

I was really sad a few days ago... My sister is growing up and doesn’t care about me anymore – the sister who, as a little girl, would be around me 24/7; the same sister who would grab my legs if I got the car keys. Feeling her so distant breaks me heart... :õ(

But life brings us great surprises – one day after calling my sis and hearing “I’m busy now” I met a reader of the blog that put a smile on my face: she’s 17 and adorable! She’s one of my coworker's daughter and wanted to meet me while dropping by the office. Her name is Marina and she made me blush with so many kind words about the blog. After that I even got a lovely email and a beautiful book. I’ve told her mom that I would like to “adopt” Marina as my little sister. :D

I made these cookies for her (after my macaron disaster) as a way to thank her for being so generous.

Marina, dear, it was a great joy meeting you and your tenderness made my heart warm again.
xoxo

Better-than-Brownie-Cookies
slightly adapted from here

1 1/3 cups (233g) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids or more, chopped
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
2/3 cup (134g) sugar – I used vanilla infused sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (175g) dark chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Melt the 1 1/3 cups chocolate with the butter in a small saucepan over low heat – stir constantly until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Mix eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl. Combine thoroughly. Set aside.
Sift flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.
Add melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and slowly add your dry ingredients. When stirred, add the cup of chocolate chunks/chips and stir.

Scoop 1 ½ tablespoons of dough onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are firm on the outside (dough loses its sheen). Leave to cool completely on sheets.

Makes about 18

Roasted carrot soup

A lot has been said about Michael Jackson’s death and I won’t bother you with my thoughts about it. Just wanna say that to me he was a genius, his music has been part of my life since I was a little girl and “Thriller” scared the bejeesus out of me for the first time - the guy never ceased to amaze me.

When it comes to food, Donna Hay is the one that always amazes me – this delicious soup comes from her website.

Roasted carrot soup
from Donna Hay magazine

1kg carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
340g brown onions, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1.5 liters vegetable stock
1 cup (240ml) pouring (single) cream
parsley leaves, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Combine the carrot, onion, oil, salt, pepper and cumin in a baking dish. Roast for 30 minutes or until the carrot is tender.
Process, add the stock and blend until smooth. Place in a saucepan over medium heat, add the cream and bring to the boil. Cover, cook for 5 minutes and sprinkle with the parsley.

* I used garlic infused olive oil

Serves 4 (generously)